Jacks for use with containerized cargoes

ABSTRACT

The disclosure relates to jacks for use with the massive type of containerized cargoes which have fittings at the corners for anchoring the containers to transportation devices such as trucks. For the usual container, four of the disclosed jacks are employed, each being readily mounted adjacent a vertical edge of the container. The jacks have a self contained hydraulic fluid reservoir, hydraulic cylinder with piston, motor, and pump for operating the cylinder with the fluid from the reservoir. Control means are provided for operating a set of jacks separately or simultaneously from a distance.

United States Patent 1 [111 3,749,363 Hauser July 31, 1973 54] J ACKS FOR USE WITH CONTAINERIZED 3,541,598 11/1970 Dousset 214/392 CARGOES 3,289,868 12/1966 Miller 214/515 Jean Hauser, 7, Avn. de Celle, 92 Meudon La Foret, France Filed: Sept. 13, 1971 Appl. No.: 179,672

Inventor:

Forelgn Appllcatlon Prlorlty Data Jan. 22, 1971 France 7102092 [1.8. CI. 254/45, 214/515 Int. Cl B661 7/26 Field of Search 254/45, 2 RB, 93;

Relereuces Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS l/ 1972 Walerowski 214/390 Primary Examiner-0thell M. Simpson Assistant Examiner-Robert C. Watson Attorney-Greene & Durr [S 7 1 ABSTRACT The disclosure relates to jacks for use with the massive type of containerized cargoes which have fittings at the corners for anchoring the containers to transportation devices such as trucks. For the usual container, four of the disclosed jacks are employed, each being readily mounted adjacent a vertical edge of the container. The jacks have a self contained hydraulic fluid reservoir, hydraulic cylinder with piston, motor, and pump for operating the cylinder with the fluid from the reservoir. Control means are provided for operating a set of jacks separately or simultaneously from a distance.

6 Chlms, 8 Drawing Figures PMENIEL 1 I975 SHEET 1 OF 3 i'gl I NVEN TOR, JEAN H4085}? BY W PAIENIEL JUL 31 I973 SHEET 2 0F 3 A 'ITORNE Y PMENIEDJULB1 W 3. 749 363 SHEET 3 UP 3 A 26 e s I N VEN L '0 R. JEAN Haas-m BW ZMA/ JACKS FOR USE WITH CONTAINERIZEI) CARGOES Transport cases, crates or containers are known which are equipped with anchor points in which various handling or lifting means can be engaged, for example, for the purpose of transference between a road vehicle and a rail vehicle, or for the loading or unloading of such vehicles.

If the operations have to take place at a fixed point, then lift trucks, cranes or gantries are used. On the other hand if the locality of the loading, unloading or transfer stations must be improvised or changed, the preferred apparatus consists of a set of four separate jacks, each comprising its own operating means.

The present invention has essentially for its object, certain improvements in the apparatus of this latter kind.

Throughout the remainder of this specification, the word container is used as a generic name for any case, crate or container of any dimensions and construction, closed or latticed, appropriate to rail, highway, water or air transport, or even a complete vehicle body, provided that it is equipped with appropriate anchor points. The anchor points can be constituted, if appropriate, by standardized corner pieces of the ISO type.

According to this invention, a jack, for cooperation with anchor points at an upper and a lower corner of a transport container, includes a vertical body, a bolt with a horizontal axis is carried by a lower part of the body and engageable with the lower anchor point, and a peg with a vertical axis offset from the body and rigidly connected to an upper part of the body, the peg being engageable with the upper anchor point.

The invention produces marked technical progress in several respects, and especially:

Great facility in positioning, separating and manipulating the jacks, by one single operator;

A ppreciablereduction in the bulk of these jacks in comparison with the existing jacks, permitting their easy loading on to or into the transport vehicle or the container itself; I

Possibility of leaving the jacks in place on the container during transport, while observing external dimensions prescribed by road traffic regulations;

Remote operation of the jacks, simultaneously or individually as desired, from a single portable control box.

The motor elements of the jacks may be supplied with fluid, but electric motor drive is greatly preferred by reason of the facility of the various'connections and of the connection toa supply current source.

Preferably each jack includes a hydraulic cylinder within the body, a hydraulic piston within the cylinder, a rod connectedto the piston and emerging from the lower end of the body, a foot piece on the lower end of the rod, a reservoir, a pump arranged to supply liquid from the reservoir to the cylinder, and an electric motor coupled to drive the pump; the reservoir, pump and motor being all within the body.

One very important advantage of such jacks is that the electric energy source of the transport vehicle suffices to permit at least several loading, unloading or 6 transfer operations without exhausting the batteries.

Thus, the equipment is totally self-sufficient, permitting all operations, for example, in the open country.

Preferably equipment according to the invention comprises:

a set of four identical cornerjacks, each with the necessary electric connection means and the elements 5 for attachment and locking to the container,

a maneuvering trolley,

a portable control box permitting the remote control of the jacks,

cables and conduits for the connection of the four 10 I jacks with one another, with the control box and with a supply current source. The accompanying drawings show one particular example of equipment embodying the invention. In these drawings:

l5 FIG. 1 illustrates the operation of hooking a jack to a container;

FIG. 2 shows the completion of the operation of loading the container on to a vehicle;

FIG. 3 shows this vehicle and the container with the jacks in the driving position;

FIG. 4 is a partial rear view of the loaded vehicle, and one jack in the operating position;

FIG, 5 is a detail view in vertical section of the upper means for hooking the jack to the container;

25 FIG. 6 is a corresponding plan view;

FIG. 7 is a horizontal section of the lower means for locking the jack to the container; and v FIG. 8 shows, on a larger scale than FIG. 1, the operation of bringing the jack close to the container and hooking it thereto.

The container I has fittings 2 at its comers pierced with holes 3, so as to serve as anchor points.

To these points 2 there can be hooked and locked jacks 4, each constituting an autonomous, compact and fluidtight unit which contains, sheltered from weather andfrom shocks, all the elements necessary for its operation.

As indicated diagrammatically in FIG. 4, the elements comprise a casing which may itself by or may 40 contain a hydraulic cylinder in which is a hydraulic piston 5 on a rod 6 which constitutes a telescopic leg; said casing also containing an oil reservoir 8, a pump 7, and electric motor 9, and a contactor I0. The motor is coupled to drive the pump which is arranged to supply oil from the reservoir 8 to the hydraulic cylinder. The contactor 10 effects the necessary connections for the remote electric control of the jack.

The telescopic rod 6 terminates at the bottom in a foot piece 11 detachably connected by a ball joint. The body or casing of the jack 4 has, at its upper end, a cylindrical end piece 12 upon which a perpendicular arm 13 can be adjusted vertically and then locked by means of a screw 14. At the'end of the arm 13 there is fixed a peg 15, the axis of which is parallel to that of the jack. At its lower end, the casing carries a bracket 16 in which can turn a bolt 17 of the known quarter-turn" type (see FIGS. 7 and 8), the axis of which is horizontal. This bolt can be operated by hand, for example by means of a lever (not shown) engaged in a recess 18 in the bolt.

The equipment also includes a trolley or truck 20 utilized both for shifting the jacks and for hooking and locking the jacks to the corners of the container.

This trolley or truck 20, of the two-wheeled type, is constituted essentially by two suitably braced handles 21, bent at their lower ends to form together a fork 22, each prong of which has an upper recess 23 near its end (see FIG. 4). Two wheels 24 rotate freely on an axle 25. Moreover the rod 6 of each jack carries at its lower end, immediately above the ball joint of its foot piece 11, a transverse spindle 26 beneath the projecting ends of which the fork 22 can be engaged in its recesses 23 by maneuvering the trolley.

The equipment also includes a control box 28, shown in FIG. 2, to be held in the hand by the operator. This box is connected by a flexible cable 29 to one of the jacks. The jacks are interconnected by peripheral conductors 29' and are connected by a cable 29" to a current supply source outlet (electric distribution mains, independent generator, or battery of the transport vehicle, whichever is most convenient). To attach the cables there are connectors 34 (FIG. 8) at the lower end of each jack. Further connectors are likewise provided at the upper end of each jack, for example on the arms 13, as indicated at 35 in FIG. 8.

The control box, which contains the necessary electric or electronic elements, in appropriate arrangement, carries five buttons, of which four each control the individual rise and descent of one jack, while the fifth controls their simultaneous rise and descent.

The operation of the equipment is as follows, starting from the situation in FIG. 1 which shows the container resting in the ground and having to be loaded on to the chassis 30 of the transport vehicle. The vehicle has no novel feature. The tenons intended to be engaged in the corresponding holes 3 of the anchor points 2, and acting in the manner of the bolts 17, are designated by 31.

By acting with one hand upon the handles 21 of the trolley, while keeping the jack 4 held slightly rearwardly inclined (see FIG. 8) with the other hand (see FIG. 1), the operator brings the peg into line with the upper hole 3 of the corresponding upper anchor points. The straightening up of the jack to the vertical position then reduces the distance D which separated the arm 13 from the fitting 2, bringing the peg 15 immediately above the hole 3. The tapered end of the peg and the large play provided between it and the hole then facilitated its introduction into this hole.

Then, using the peg 15 as articulation and centering point, the operator can easily and effortlessly manoeuver the trolley to introduce the bolt 17 into the hole 3 of the corresponding lower anchor point, the bolt being in unlocked position. The he locks this bolt by rotation, by means of the lever inserted into the recess 18. By a simple forward rocking of the trolley 20 the latter is then disengaged from the jack, and is removed. This disengagement of the trolley is always possible, even in cases where the foot pieces 11 of the jacks are already applied to the ground, irrespective of the degree of elongation of the jacks.

The same operation is carried out at the four angles of the container.

The position of the arm 13 along the end piece 12 will, of course, have been selected to suit the height of the container to be manipulated. If it is a matter of containers at very different levels, there is nothing to stop the operator, after having connected the jack to the electric current source and to the control box, from raising or lowering it under no load to bring the peg 15 to the desired level. Such an operation may also be necessary in the case of appreciable variations of level between the surface on which the container is resting and the surface upon which the trolley runs.

The part 16' of the brackets 16 in which the bolt 17 moves is offset downwards so that it can be engaged beneath a container 1 the width L of which is greater to a certain extent than the distance I separating the external faces of the anchor points 2 (see FIG. 1). This provision widens the possibilities of use of the jacks in question with existing or special containers. At least the two forward jacks 4 will have been attached in the lateral position, as shown in FIG. 2, that is to say with the arms 13 extending laterally outwards from the container, so as to provide between their rods 6 a maximum space E for the passage of the chassis 30 of the lorry. Then, using the control box 28, the operator can act at first selectively upon one or the other of the jacks, if necessary to establish level support for the container if it has been resting on uneven ground. Thereafter, the container is raised by simultaneous action of the four jacks.

After the chassis 30 has reversed to its position beneath the load, the container is lowered by a converse maneuver until the tenons 31 carried by cross-members 32 of the chassis penetrate into the corresponding hole of the anchor points 2. Then the tenons are locked. Continuation of the retraction of the rods 6 brings them to their completely withdrawn position as indicated in FIG. 3.

If necessary, after disengagement of the bolts 17, forward jacks can be brought, by articulation and pivoting about the pegs 15, into their road position as indicated in FIG. 3, then immobilized in this position by a fresh operation of the bolts 17 which are then engaged in a perpendicular hole of the lower anchor point2. Their spacing is then equal only to e, which permits of bringing them within the width of the container.

The same operations are repeated in the converse direction for the unloading of the container.

It will be observed that the length of the arms 13 is no more than the dimension necessary to permit passing the jacks from their operative position to their road position and vice versa, clearing the angle of the container. Thus, they are easily lodged in the re-entrant angle generally formed between the cab 33 of the vehicle and the container, as shown clearly by FIGS. 3 and 7. The overall bulk and the weight of the jacks thus equipped with the very short arms is correspondingly small, which facilitates storage of the jacks on or in the vehicle or the container itself, if they are to accompany the load.

Moreover, the arm 13 and the peg 15 of each jack serve only for guidance and for support of the jack alone, the load being entirely supported by the lower bolt 17. Thus, the arm 13 can be relatively light construction, the centre of gravity of the jack being thus lowered, which facilitates its manipulation.

I claim:

1. A jack for cooperation with a rectilinear transport container of the type having fittings at its corners containing a horizontal and a vertical surface provided with holes adapted to serve as anchoring means, said jack comprising a vertical casing forming a hydraulic cylinder containing an axially movable piston therein and a rod connected to the piston emerging from the lower end of the casing,means on the lower part of said casing containing a bolt with a horizontal axis for engagement in a hole of a bottom comer fitting, means extending radially from an upper portion of said casing, containing a downwardly extending peg with an axis parallel to the casing, for engagement in a hole in the horizontal surface of an upper corner fitting.

2. A jack as claimed in claim 1 wherein the vertical casing includes in addition to the hydraulic cylinder and piston, a reservoir, a pump arranged to supply fluid from the reservoir to the cylinder, and an electric motor coupled to drive said pump.

3. The jack asclaimed in claim 2 wherein said casing also carries electrical connector means for said motor and plug means for detachably connecting the connector means to a source of electric power and to a control means remote from the jack, said control means being constructed and arranged so that a plurality of jacks may be connected thereto for separate or simultaneous operation by the source of power.

4. The jack as claimed in claim 2 wherein the means on the lower part of the casing for carrying the bolt with the horizontal axis comprises a bracket, a boltcarrying end which is downwardly offset with respect to the lower part of the casing.

5. The jack as claimed in claim 1 wherein said means extending radially from the upper portion of said casing comprises an arm which is adjustable vertically on said casing.

6. The jack as claimed in claim 2 comprising in combination therewith a two-wheeled truck, the piston of said jack having a spindle projecting from opposite sides of the lower end thereof, said truck having means engageable with the opposite sides of said piston. 

1. A jack for cooperation with a rectilinear transport container of the type having fittings at its corners containing a horizontal and a vertical surface provided with holes adapted to serve as anchoring means, said jack comprising a vertical casing forming a hydraulic cylinder containing an axially movable piston therein and a rod connected to the piston emerging from the lower end of the casing,means on the lower part of said casing containing a bolt with a horizontal axis for engagement in a hole of a bottom corner fitting, means extending radially from an upper portion of said casing, containing a downwardly extending peg with an axis parallel to the casing, for engagement in a hole in the horizontal surface of an upper corner fitting.
 2. A jack as claimed in claim 1 wherein the vertical casing includes in addition to the hydraulic cylinder and piston, a reservoir, a pump arranged to supply fluid from the reservoir to the cylinder, and an electric motor coupled to drive said pump.
 3. The jack as claimed in claim 2 wherein said casing also carries electrical connector means for said motor and plug means for detachably connecting the connector means to a source of electric power and to a control means remote from the jack, said control means being constructed and arranged so that a plurality of jacks may be connected thereto for separate or simultaneous operation by the source of power.
 4. The jack as claimed in claim 2 wherein the means on the lower part of the casing for carrying the bolt with the horizontal axis comprises a bracket, a bolt-carrying end which is downwardly offset with respect to the lower part of the casing.
 5. The jack as claimed in claim 1 wherein said means extending radially from the upper portion of said casing comprises an arm which is adjustable vertically on said casing.
 6. The jack as claimed in claim 2 comprising in combination therewith a two-wheeled truck, the piston of said jack having a spindle projecting from opposite sides of the lower end thereof, said truck having means engageable with the opposite sides of said pistOn. 